“I’m called Magic Hand here,” says Building supervisor Alex. His working day starts at 6:30 a.m. The first thing he does in the morning is check his emails to see whether an order has already been received for him or whether his boss has set tasks for him. Same today. Several to-dos are waiting for him. The garbage wasn’t picked up at the dump, and he’s also supposed to replace a broken toilet seat and repair the back of a desk.

20,000 steps a day

First Alex goes to the garbage dump. “This is a nightmare for me,” he says. He cleans up so that the trash can then be picked up. He then goes around and checks whether everything has been cleaned properly. “Looks good,” is his conclusion today. He then repairs the toilet seat. On average, Alex walks around 20,000 steps in a working day.

“Always a sense of success”

He describes his everyday work like this: “I make sure the cleaning staff clean everything properly, do small repairs, hang up a picture. Blockages also happen.” The caretaker has 31 vacation days per year. Alex trained as a gas and water fitter and therefore brings craftsmanship experience with. He has been working as a caretaker for two years. “I always have a sense of success here and people are grateful,” he says about his job.

Alex spends his lunch break almost every day in the canteen. He spends around 120 euros a month on this. Then the work continues; today we have to hang up pictures.

3391 euros net salary per month

Alex earns 3,975 euros gross per month, including allowances. The median salary for caretakers in Germany is around 3,391 euros per month. Alex’s net income is around 2,458 euros per month. Before changing jobs, Alex worked as a tram driver in the same company. “The fact that I moved internally within the company and moved into a different wage group meant that I gained a few euros more. I didn’t know that before. That was the icing on the cake and made the job even more attractive,” he says. As Tram driver He previously earned around 2,000 euros net in the same company.

Alex gets off work at 3:30 p.m. “My day ends on a positive note, the trash has been picked up. A very successful day!” he says. In his free time he likes to work on cars. He spends around 400 euros a month on gasoline, taxes, insurance, spare parts and a place in a mechanic’s workshop.

Alex is satisfied with his job

He pays around 750 euros per month for his approximately 130 square meter rental apartment, in which he lives with his wife and son. His gross annual salary in 2024 was just under 50,000 euros. Alex is happy with that. “I’m a very down-to-earth guy. I’m happy with what I have,” says the craftsman. He is also happy with his job: “The best step I could ever take was moving to this department. Everything fits.”